A major problem physicians face when they prescribe a medication for a patient is the patient failing to take his or her medication properly. For instance, the patient may take or use the medication too frequently, not enough, or completely forget to take the medication at all. Pharmacists normally instruct patients on the proper way to take their medications, but often the patient will forget the directions or not understand them adequately to begin with. Patients also simply forget whether they took their medication as prescribed or at the prescribed times. This problem exists for all forms of medication, including pills capsules, tablets, liquids, and other solids. The problem also applies to veterinary medication prescribed for treatment of animals.
Taking medication improperly can lead to a variety of difficulties. Overmedication can result in toxicity or unwanted side effects while undermedication can result in inadequate treatment of the condition for which the medicine was prescribed. In either situation, the consequences may be serious and may even result in death.
One attempt to monitor a patient's medication has involved the use of medication boxes having individual compartments for the days of the week, with the more elaborate boxes having multiple dose compartments for each day for up to four times a day dosing. While such boxes are indicative of whether a dose for a particular day or dosing interval has been taken, they are also inconvenient to the patient since they are often bulky and must be carried around separately from the patient's medication. Also, the patient must remember to dole out the doses of medication into the appropriate boxes each week prior to the time that the dose must be taken.
Secondly, another means used to keep track of medication is an alarm device which alerts the patient as to when the next dose of medication is due. Some of these methods include the use of specific medication alarms, beepers, and watch alarms. The disadvantages of these devices include the fact that the patient may forget to set the alarm or the device may fail to function due to dead batteries, etc. Further, these types of devices do not work well for patients who have difficulty hearing as is often the case with older patients, and may be difficult to hear if the patient is in a noisy area.
Another method of monitoring medication includes a recording device comprising a container for holding prescription bottles having an indicia area comprising a grid on the outside of the container, with the days of the week on one axis of the grid and the dose and times on the opposite axis, for keeping a record of the times at which medicinal dosages are taken using buttons or markers. This method, however, is also disadvantageous since the device is bulky for the patient to carry around and the patient must further separately carry the marking devices to place on the recording grid.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a novel and improved means for recording periodic medicinal dosages.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a means for recording periodic medicinal dosages which is portable and convenient for a patient to carry.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a means for recording periodic medicinal dosages which is self contained and does not require the patient to carry around additional buttons or markers.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a means for recording periodic medicinal dosages which is accurate, durable, and economical to manufacture.
These and other objectives will be apparent from the following description of the invention.